Two new Asian wholly foreign-owned banks licensed

Korean Shinhan Bank and Malaysian Hong Leong Bank are two wholly foreign-invested newcomers to Việt Nam’s banking market.

Under Licenses No. 341/GP-NHNN and 342/GP-NHNN issued on December 20, 2008 by the SBV, these two wholly foreign-owned banks will be founded by the Republic of Korea’s Shinhan and Malaysia’s Hong Leong Bank Berhad respectively.

The licenses are valid for 99 years and the new banks will run in the model of commercial ones.

SHBVN is poured with a VND 1,670-billion charter capital by Shinhan Bank while Hong Leong Bank invests VND 1,000 billion to establish HLBVN.

Representatives from the two banks stressed that the permission given to wholly foreign-owned banks in Việt Nam vividly showed the country’s realization of WTO commitments and will facilitate business activities for foreign investors in the years to come.

By Kim Anh